Greenland Crisis Trump's Tariff Policy

Bessent Repeats Tariff Threat: "Europe Is Exuding Weakness"

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismisses claims that Greenland tariffs are a negotiating tactic. In an interview with NBC News, he says that President Trump will not back down on the issue.

The fight over the Arctic is real and if there is an attack on Greenland, the US will be drawn in, says the Treasury Secretary. If the US takes over Greenland now, there will not have to be a conflict because it preserves "peace through strength".

- Europe radiates weakness, the US radiates strength, he says in an interview with NBC News.

According to the Treasury Secretary, President Trump can use the US's economic strength to avoid a "hot war".

Sources: EU considering retaliatory tariffs against the US of nearly 1,000 billion kronor

The EU is considering imposing its own tariffs against the US for the equivalent of nearly 1,000 billion kronor after Donald Trump's threats against the European countries, sources tell the Financial Times.

The union is also considering restricting US access to the European market. The various countermeasures are being developed to give Europe a better negotiating position in connection with the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, according to the information.

On Sunday, the 27 member states of the union will meet in Belgium to discuss a response to Donald Trump. The US president has threatened tariffs against eight countries, including Sweden, in order to buy Greenland from Denmark.

Bildt: The irony is that US consumers will pay

Trump uses tariffs as a weapon in the belief that the outside world will pay, when in fact it is the American consumers, says former Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt (M) to TV4 Nyheterna.

- The tariff is on imports. It is those who buy goods in the US from the countries that will pay more, they are the ones who are affected, which is part of the irony of it all.

The president is not thinking that far, but is mostly looking to split the EU, according to Bildt. Europe will pay to some extent in the form of reduced trade, but in all essentials the tariffs mainly affect the Americans, he notes.

A ten percent US trade tariff on Sweden means that an American who imports a Swedish product for 100 dollars must pay ten dollars in taxes to the US government, on top of the cost of the product.